THAT’S Naughty Norfolk dicing with death as spring beckons in botanic wonderland

This week I meet a lady who tells me the secret of canine longevity. The way to do it is to treat your dog as you would wish to be treated – with care and respect.

Kate knows what she’s talking about. She’s a countrywoman and big into Labradors.

They come as puppies, and they stay. Quite a while…

One, Honey, lived until a week before her 20th birthday.

Another, Drake, was just short of 19 when he went to the great canine cloud in the sky.

Those are impressive ages. Mind, these two are youngsters compared to a pooch from the last century.

Back in the 1960s, a lab called Adjutant reached the grand old age of 27.

That’s 149 years in human terms. I wonder what they were feeding him on!

In the meantime, my naughty Norfolk terrier is doing his best to cut short his little life.

Bennie is one year old, and walking in the field when I foolishly decide to let him off the lead.

Across the grass he runs. Under the gate. On to the drive. Straight across the road. Narrowly missing the wheels of a lorry.

My heart races. Shouting, I set off in hot pursuit. His wee legs may be shorter than mine, but he is faster.

The hairy hound is eventually found at the nearby stables. Where he is being fussed over by the girls who work there.

Obviously, Bennie is not in a hurry to return. Especially not with a panting and rather cross owner.

To calm down, I think of nice things. Of the spring flowers we filmed this week at what has been named the UK’S favourite garden.

Thanks to the mild climate created by the Gulf Stream, Logan Botanic Garden near Stranraer is an exotic paradise.

Here in this sheltered coastal spot, is a place where palm trees grow and tropical ferns flourish.

This is where you find early harbingers of spring – and not just snowdrops, although they grow in profusion.

Here, already, is a wall of pink on dark glossy green; a 50-yearold camellia in full glorious flower.

Here is a butter-yellow early flowering rhododendron. WR Rye, bred at the nearby Castle Kennedy Gardens in the 1930s – and called after the estate’s head gardener.

Snowdrops, camellias, rhodies. All these bulbs and shrubs we have grown used to seeing in our gardens.

But what about the intriguingly-named Polyspora Longicarpa? A towering creation from the Vietnamese mountains.

Its leaves are dark green. Its saucer-shaped flowers are white with a bright yellow middle. It is an eye-catching specimen. Although, rather less glamorously, our cameraman renames it the fried egg plant.

There is much colour – and this is just February. If proof is needed that spring is coming earlier, this must be it.

And yet the weather hardly feels spring-like. Wind and rain punishing parts of Scotland. Other places blanketed in snow.

I hope you are surviving the worst of the weather. It is a funny old season...

THERE IS MUCH COLOUR – AND THIS IS JUST FEBRUARY. IF PROOF IS NEEDED THAT SPRING IS COMING EARLIER, THIS MUST BE IT

TRANQUILLITY: Logan Botanic Garden near Stranraer is a haven of peace after chasing a wilful dog in full flight.